After an impressive start to the 2019 season against Georgia Southern, LSU now turns their attention to the Texas Longhorns and Ed Orgeron is well aware of what they bring to the table, especially on the offensive side of the football.

“Offense is led by Sam Ehlinger, quarterback, a very good football player. He’s a complete football player.” Orgeron said on Tuesday during his press conference, “He does a lot of things with his feet. He does a great job with his arm. He makes some great decisions. They have an excellent scheme, similar to us on offense. He knows where to go with the football.

“Keaontay Ingram, a big back, physical and explosive. Collin Johnson may be the biggest and one of the best receivers we see all year. We’re going to have a plan for him.”

One of the big things for the Tigers on Saturday night is to maintain their composure in a hostile environment like Austin, Texas. When it comes to the team’s maturity, Orgeron feels positive that they can handle the pressure.

“This is a mature team. The way they acted yesterday, was not giddy. It was a day off for them.” the LSU head coach said, “They handled the film very well. We had one of our best Monday practices we ever had. They know the magnitude of this football game. We’re not going to make it bigger than life. We’ve been in big games before. This is a big game and they know it.”

Sam Ehlinger’s QB Comparison

One of the top players on the Longhorns’ offense is without a doubt Sam Ehlinger. In last week’s win over Louisiana Tech, the Austin native threw for 276 yards and four touchdowns. As he begins his junior season, there’s a lot of hype surrounding him and Ed Orgeron gave a comparison of the Longhorns quarterback to a former SEC star.

“He reminds me a little bit of Tebow.” Orgeron mentioned, “I was at another school when we had to play Tebow. I’m not saying he’s as good as Tebow, I’m not saying he’s not. Reminds me of that type of player, but he’s a better thrower.”

It’s an interesting comment, to say the least, but seems fairly accurate when you look at his statistics from last season.

Fonua Injury Update

The linebacker corps has been a positive all throughout training camp and the group put together a solid performance against Georgia Southern. However, the news wasn’t all that positive on Tuesday with the announcement that Soni Fonua would be out for an extended period of time.

The Salt Lake City native recently had an operation on his hands, meaning that he’ll be out and younger players like Kendall McCallum will have to step up in the interim and add some needed depth to the position.

Tyler Shelvin Shines to Open the Season

After losing a lot of weight in the offseason, Tyler Shelvln made a lot of progress throughout fall camp. His performance in the season opener was great, but Orgeron did notice one thing in particular after watching some film.

“Consistency is a big factor with him. He proved to us that is why we went to get him.” Orgeron said, “He was the No. 1 player in the state. He played with tremendous leverage. He’s an excellent athlete and plays hard.

“Out of 24 plays, he had two loafs, which we grade pretty hard. 85% grade on his technique and run. A very good grade for him. Again, we’re going to face a bigger, stronger offensive line, a bigger back, better quarterback running the quarterback. We’ll see how he does in a big-time game.”